Garry Monk has issued a stark warning to Jonjo Shelvey that he will lose his place in the Swansea City team if he continues to pick up bookings for being “lazy”. Shelvey collected his sixth yellow card of the league season against Aston Villa on Friday following a cynical foul on Gabriel Agbonlahor – he was sent off against Everton in November after being booked twice – and Monk said the midfielder is running the risk of becoming a liability.

Although Monk described Shelvey as a player with “frightening ability” and stressed that he does not want his criticism to come across as harsh, the Swansea manager admitted he has become increasingly frustrated with Shelvey’s tendency to pick up “silly bookings” that impact on his performance and run the risk of costing the team points. Monk explained that it was for those reasons that Shelvey, 22, was withdrawn early in the second half of the Boxing Day win against Villa.